Mouselike-hamster hybrids

Family Muridae (Calomyscinae)

Note: Calomyscus has often been assigned to Cricetinae (Hamsters), but the many mouselike characteristics of mouselike hamsters mean that these animals are intermediate between mice and hamsters, and are therefore often assigned to a separate subfamily, Calomyscinae, as they are here. One might plausibly suppose, then, that the members of this genus might be the product of ancient hybridization between hamsters and mice.

Calomyscuselburzensis [Goodwin’s Mouselike Hamster]
× Calomyscusmystax [Great Balkhan Mouselike Hamster] CANHR. Hybrids were produced in captivity. They also occur naturally in the central Kopet-Dag Mountains on the border between Iran and Turkmenistan. These taxa are sometimes lumped due to hybridization. Graphodotsky et al. 2000.